Lateral aircraft gun mount



J. C. SANDERS LATERAL AIRCRAFT GUN MOUNT.

March 4, 1941.

Original Filed Oct. 17, 1934 Patented Mar. 4, 1941.

LATERAL AIRCRAFT GUN MOUNT John O. Sanders, Seattle, Wasln, assignor, by

mesne assignments, to Boeing Aircraft Comililany, Seattle, Wash., acorporation of Washgton Original application October 17, 1934, SerialNo.

Divided and this application December- 21, 1936, Serial No. 116,920

17 Claims.

My invention relates to gun emplacements, and especially to those whichprotrude from a surface of an'alrcraft body, which surface is one otherthan a forwardly projecting nose or a rearwardly 5 directed tail, thatis, a surface over which movement of the relative air must befacilitated, to avoid drag, which emplacement may take the form ofstreamlined protuberances protruding laterally from the side of thefuselage.

tion Serial No. 749,040, filed October 17-, 1934, now Patent No.2,1l3,143, issued April 5, 1938.

The usual type of rear gun installation on a bombing airplane, forexample, is a gun carried in a ring mount supported upon the upper edgeof an open cockpit, located in the fuselage directly behind the pilot,or on cockpits located in the rear of outboard engine nacelles.

Such installations enable the gunner to fire only above the fuselage,and in a direction somewhat downward therefroin, but a gun mounted insuch a support cannot be fired directly beneath the airplane itself, andthey can be fired only awkwardly, if at all, in a direction directlyabove theairplane. Therehave been provisions made for firing gunsthrough apertures directed rearwardly, at the bottom of a fuselage, butthese, having abrupt edges, produce eddies and too high a drag to bepermissible.

close a gun mounted inan open cockpit, such enclosures have even furtherrestricted the field of fire, and have not been suficiently mobile toen-' able the gunner to train the gun freely. Moreover, these shieldsjut out into the air stream in such a manner as to create a large amountof drag, although probably not as much as that created by a whollyunprotected gunner and gun installation. Never before, so far as I amaware, has it been proposed to enclose such a side gun, as distiimuishedfrom a gun operable from a topopening I cockpit, or from a purelyrearwardly directed gun.

-'My gun mount has been designed to provide a 5 laterally disposedemplacement with the gun projected outward sufliciently to enable thegunner to fire readily in any direction within the possible field offire, upwardly, downwardly, forwardly or rearwardiy, and at all times hewill be pro- This application is a division of my applica While someattempts have been made to en-.

It is thus an object of my invention to provide an enclosed gun mount ofsuch aerodynamic efficiency that the gun emplacement, having the gunprojected thus to increase its field of fire and each of laying, willadd little to the air resistance 5 of the airplane.

It is also an object to dispose several gun installations of the typewhich I propose in such an arrangement that the several sphericalsectors of fire will interlock in a plane transversely. of and close tothe fuselage, to encircle it with a continuous and unbroken ring orsphere of protection. Such an arrangement will give an aggregate fieldof fire of at least a hemisphere in extent, from a transverse planethrough the fuselage rearwardly, and to a considerable angle forwardly,and by suitable choice of location of each gun relative to the fuselagesurface, and of each gun relative to the others, substantially a fullsphere of fire may be included.

Other objects flowing from the novel type of gun mount, enclosuretherefor, and supporting means forthe gun mount and enclosure, as wellas from the unique arrangement inwhich such gun mounts are disposed,will be evident as the de- Y dividual gun mounts and the enclosuresprovided therefor, as described hereafter in the specification, shown inthe drawing, and defined in the appended claims.

v I have illustrated in the drawing an arrangement of gun mounts whichwill accomplish my Y 50 itected from the air blast past the aircraft,and

.the drag produced by elements projecting outwardly from the streamlinedsurface of the fuse lage will be a minimum. The field of fire which canbe covered is also unusually wide, in the 55 ne hborhood of a hemispherefor each gun.

purpose, as well as a particular type of gun mount whichis well adaptedfor use .in such arrangements. It will be understood, however, 40 thatthe specific gun mount would be useful in other arrangements, andlikewise gu'n mounts of difierent construction might be disposed in anarrangement involving shown in the-drawing.

Figure 1 is a vertical transverse section through an airplane fuselageand gun mounting, and Figthe principles of that 'ure 2 is a sideelevation of a rear portion of an right angles thereto, and intersectingthe first axis substantially in the surface of the fuselage. The latterswinging movement is afforded in the gun mount shown by the pivot 92 or93. These two axes enable universal movement of the gun, and theirlocation relative to the skin of the fuselage determines the angularextent of the sector of its fire. Since they are both locatedsubstantially in the surface or skin of the fuselage, and since thelatter is outwardly convex, in all directions, and therefore curves awayfrom these axes, the result is that the gun can be laid substantiallydirectly forwardly or directly rearwardly, and in excess of 45 to eachside of an axial plane radially of the fuselage through the gunemplacementnearly in fact.

But a gun so located, in an aperture in the skin, or its aperture alone,would produce tremendous drag. To avoid this each gun is received in anenclosure 9 or 99, respectively, formed to surround the entire gun mountand the aperture in the side of the fuselage, through which the gunprojects, and through which it is swung and manipulated.

In order that a minimum of air resistance will be created by the gunemplacement, I prefer to form the enclosures 9 or 90 of ovoid shape,protruding from the aircraft structure with their larger ends forward.Thus a fair protuberance is provided, having a substantially tear shapedlongitudinal profile which creates very little turbulence in theair-stream flowing past it. The aircraft structure opening is alwaysclosed by the shell because of the manner in which it is pivotallysupported, even when swung to traverse the gun I through an angleexceeding 120 in a plane transversely of the fuselage.

Adequate fore and aft movement may be permitted by the provision of aslot extending lengthwise of the enclosure, through which the gunprojects. The gun may swing along this slot as it is rotated about theaxis 92 or 93. Any gun or guns may be restricted to fire eitherrearwardly only, or forwardly only, if desired; in any event it shouldand can cover a field of fire in a fore and aft direction at least froma plane extending transversely of the airplane fuselage through the gunmount to directly rearward or directly forward of the fuselage, and thefore and aft field of fire may, if desired, extend from aboutdirectlyrearward to about,directly forward. The lower gun is preferablynot mounted upon a post, such as 92, but upon trunnions 93, which givean equivalent fore and aft swinging movement in order that theammunition box I8 may be kept above the'gu'n as the shell 90 swings fromside to side.

When mounts of the type described or ones giving an equivalent range offire are disposed in the arrangement illustrated, much better resultsare obtained than are possible with rear gun installations heretoforeknown. It will be noted that the several guns are shown as mountedwithrelation to the contour of the fuselage 46 so that each can covernearly a hemisphere outward from the plane of the fuselage openingthrough which it projects, and they afford, in the aggregate, somethingconsiderably in excess of a hemisphere of fire. As mentioned, each gunof the three can swing in a direction laterally of the fuselage throughan angle in excess of 120.

The respective fieldsof fire of the three guns therefore form laterallyinterlocking sphericalsectors of fire, which interlock at acomparatively short distance from the airplane fuselage,

and which also interlock rearwardly to give com-v plete rear protection,and may as well be able to fire forwardly to an equivalent degree. Inthe particular arrangement illustrate these sectors interlock laterallyat about a hundred yards from the airplane, so that the combination ofguns afiords maximum protection in all directions, unless possiblydirectly forward. If the individual gun mounts did not afford as great arange transversely of the fuselage, additional gun mounts could bedisposed about the fuselage to accomplish the same results by insuringthat the lateral fields of fire of all adjoining guns interlock, so thatin the aggregate they would form a continuous and uninterrupted band offire encircling the fuselage transversely thereof.

It is evident that each gun may be operated by a separate gunner, or onegunner may fire the particular gun which may best be brought to bearupon the target, changing from one gun to another as may becomenecessary. Also while the guns are shown only as tiltable abouttransverse axes, if it should be desired to maintain them alwaysupright, no matte in what direction they may fire, a gimbal mountallowing the gun to rotate about its own axis may be employed, such asshown for example in my Patent No. 2,113,143. The gunner, of course,remains in the fuselage, and grasps the breech end ll of a gunprojecting inward from an enclosure 9 and 90, or by swinging it may movethe gun along the slot, or traverse the gun and correspondingly swingthe shell. Any suitable support for the gunner, such as the platformshown in Figure 1, may be provided.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. In an airplane fuselage, three protuberances on the sides thereofspaced at angles of approximately 120 degrees about its longitudinalaxis, a gun mount housed within and supported from each protuberance tosupport a gun pro- Jecting laterally therefrom, and means guiding eachof said protuberances to swing about a longitudinal axis through anangle in excess of 120 degrees, to enable the fields of fire of adjacentguns to overlap in a direction substantially normal to the longitudinalaxis of the fuselage.

2. The combination of claim 1, and means supporting each gun mount toswing about an axis transverse to the longitudinal axis of the fuselagethrough an angle in excess of degrees to enable each gun to fire througha field-extending from directly rearward to forward of a plane normal tothe longitudinal axis passing through the gun mount.

3. In a surface of an aircraft structure disposed substantially parallelto the direction of flight, a gun mount, a streamlined enclosuretherefor protruding laterally from the aircraft structure, and meansguiding said enclosure forv movement about an axis lying substantiallyin such surface and directed generally parallel to the direction offlight. I

4. In a surface of an aircraft structure disposed substantially parallelto the direction of flight, a gun mount, a streamlined enclosuretherefor protruding laterally from the aircraft surface, means guidingsaid enclosure for movement about an axis lying substantially in suchsurface, and means supporting said gun mount for swinging with respectto the enclosure about an axis normal to the axis aboutwhich saidenclosure moves.

. 5. In a surface of an aircraft structure disflight, a gun 'mount, andan enclosure therefor apertured for projection of a gun, outstandinglaterally from the aircraft surface as a fair pro- .tuberance having asubstantially teareshaped segmental, longitudinal profile, thelongitudinal axis whereof lies substantially in the surface of theaircraft structure and is fixed in a position generally parallel tothe'longitudinal axis of the aircraft structure, the'point of theenclosure being directed rearwardly, and means supporting the gun'mountfor aiming movement of the gun relative to the enclosure.

6. In a streamlined aircraft structure, a gun mount,'and an ovoidenclosure therefor formed as a body of revolution, and, protrudinglaterally from the aircraft structure with its longitudinal generatingaxis substantially parallel tothe direction of flight and its larger endforward,

and means guiding the enclosure for rotation about said longitudinalaxis.

'7. In a streamlined aircraft structure, a gun mount, an ovoid enclosuretherefor formed as a body of revolution, and protruding laterally fromthe'aircraft structure with its longitudinal generating axissubstantially parallel tothe direction of flight and its larger endforward, and having a slot therein for protrusion of a gun barreltherethrough, and pivot means carried by said enclosure and supportingsaid gun mount for swinging a gun barrel .along said slot, and meansguiding the enclosure for rotation about said longitudinal axis. I

8. In a streamlined aircraft structure, a gun mount, an ovoid enclosuretherefor protruding laterally from the aircraft structure with itslongitudinal axis substantially parallel to the direction of flight anditslarger end forward, and having a longitudinal slot therein forprotrusion of a gun barrel therethrough, pivot means carried by saidenclosure supporting said gun mount for swinging a gun barrel along saidslot, and means supporting said enclosure from said aircraft structurefor rotation about its longitudinal axis, to traverse said gun mount. 4

9. An enclosure protruding laterally from the surface of an aircraftstructure which is disposed substantially parallel to the direction offlight, means guiding said enclosure for swinging with respect to theaircraft structure about an axis directed generally parallel to thedirection of flight, a gun mount swingable with said enclosure about.such axis, and means guiding saidgun mount to swing from a positionparallel to the direction of flight about an axis substantiallyintersecting said first axis and disposed substantially parallel to saidaircraft structure surface and transversely of the direction'ofwfiight,through an angle of at least degrees into a position perpendicular tothedi-- enclosure, the enclosure being apertured for the protrusion andrelative movement of a gun upon such mount, and means supporting the gunmount from the aircraft structure for tilting movement about alongitudinal axis lying substantially in the aircraft surface andcoinciding "with the axis of the protuberance, and for movement about asecond axis transverse to the first axis.

11. A gun mount disposed adjacent an opening in the surface of anaircraft, which surface is disposed generally in the direction offii'ght, a support for said gun mount, carried by-the aircraft, formedand arranged for tilting movement of the gun mount and a gun thereonabout an axis extending generally in the direction of flight, andsubstantially disposed in the aircraft surface, and about a second axis,transverse to the first, and means enclosing said gun mount, andswingable therewith about the first-mentioned axis, and slotted forrelative movement of the gun mount about the second axis, said enclosingmeans outstanding laterally from the aircraft surface, and at its rearend being formed as a pointed protuberance faired into such surface tocreate a minimum of drag.

12. In an" airplane fuselage having at least three apertures in its skinapproximately equally angularly spaced about its longitudinal axis, agun mount disposed in each such aperture, to support a gun with itsmuzzle protruding therefrom, and means guiding each gun mount to swingabout an axis generally parallel to said longitudinal axis and sodisposed relative to the skin of the fuselage, but not appreciablyoutwardly of the general local contour of the skin, that each gun mayfire in a plane substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis ofthe fuselage and intersectmg the fuselage, throughout an angle in suchplane sufficiently exceeding the angular spacing of the apertures as toenable the fields of'fire of-all adjacent guns to overlap. I

13. The combination of claim 12, and means supporting each gun mount toswing about a second axis transverse to said first axis of swin to firethroughout an appreciable longitudinal angle, in addition to firingthroughout the angle as specified in claim 12.

14. In, an airplane fuselage having .at 'least three apertures in itsskin approximately equally angularly spaced about its longitudinal axis,a gun mount disposed in each such aperture, to support a gun with itsmuzzle protruding therefrom, means guiding each gun mount to swing aboutan axis generally parallel to said longitudinal axis and so disposedrelative to the skin of the fuselage, but not appreciably outwardly ofthe general local contour of the skin, that each gun may fire in a planesubstantially perpendicular to ,the longitudinal axis of the fuselageand intersecting the ,fuselage, throughout an angle in such planesufflcientiy exceeding the angular spacing of the aperture as to enablethe fields of fire of all adjacent guns to overlap in such plane, meanssupporting each gun mount to. swing about a second axis transverse tosaid first axis of swing, to fire throughout an appreciable lon-'gitudina-l' angle, an addition to firing throughmounts second axis ofswing, relative to the protuberance.

15. In. a surface of an aircraft structure disposedgenerally in a foreand aft direction and having an aperture therein, a gun mount pivotallymounted in said aperture for swinging about an axis lying substantiallyin such surface and directed generally in a foreand aft direction, tosupport a gun with its muzzle protruding through such aperture, such gunwhen '-out wardly directed being swingable between limits where itsbarrel engages the edge of the aperture, a streamlined enclosure for thegun mount and corresponding part of the gun, said enclosurefilling theaperture against entrance of air, and protruding outwardly of theaircraft surface, and means guiding said enclosure for swinging movementcoaxially with the gun mount.

16. In a surface of an aircraft structure disposed generally in a foreand aft directiorrand having an aperture of a lengthto swing a gunsbreech portion therethrough, a gun mount pivotally mounted in saidaperture for swinging about a fore and aft axis lying in such surface,and ru ther pivotally mounted for swinging about a second axistransverse to the first, and likewise lying substantially in suchsurface, and intermediate the ends of the aperture, to support a gunwith its muzzle protruding through the aperture, and for swingingmovement about each of said axes, limited only by engagement of thebarrel with the edge of the aperture, and a streamlined enclosure forthe gun mount and coresponding part of the gun, mounted for swingingwith the gun mount about the latters first axis, said enclosure fillingthe aperture against entrance of air, protruding butwardly'o'f theaircraft surface, to admit the breech portion of the gun when swungrelative to the enclosure about the second axis, and the enclosure beingslotted lengthwise to permit such swin ing of the gun mount and gunrelative to theenclosure, without substantial diminution of the limitsof that swinging.

17. In combination in an airplane fuselage having at least threeapertures spaced circumferentiallyabout lt, a gun mount disposed in eachaperture, to support a gun with its muzzle protrudingtherefrom, andmeans forguiding.v

